DOI Heft:
No. 190 (December, 1912)
DOI Artikel:Weitenkampf, Frank: The etched work of Cadwallader Washburn
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43451#0416
The Etched Work of Cadiuallader Washburn
From the Original Etching
SANTA MARIA, MEXICO BY CADWALLADER WASHBURN
The etched work of cadwal-
LADER WASHBURN
BY FRANK WEITENKAMPF
In the recent revival of painter-
etching among American artists the influence of
Whistler was to be expected, but that of Meryon
is equally strong or more so. Yet neither, nor any
other, is dominant. It is the spirit that has been
followed, rather’than the manner, and it has been
absorbed, not copied. The note of direct expres-
sion is strongly felt in this work of the younger
American etchers. In the best of it we feel that
intimate relation ’■between artist and subject in
which we may join and which forms one of the
chief charms of the print. This general charac-
terization applies with particular force in the case
of Cadwallader Washburn.
When Washburn, in the course of his wander-
ings, came to Venice in 1903, he entered into the
spirit of the group—Duveneck, Bacher, et al—who
had sat at the feet of Whistler in the city which he
had glorified with the etching needle. The result
appears in some very creditable views of Venetian
palaces and plazas and canals. But Washburn
very soon went his own way.
Lessons in etching he never had. After study-
ing under H. Siddons Mowbray at the Art Stu-
dents’ League, New York City (about 1883-85),
then for three years with W. M. Chase, in Spain
with Sorolla and in Paris under Albert Besnard, he
one day exchanged canvas and brush for plate and
needle. One may not always see just as he did;
one may even find his powers inadequate in cer-
tain instances; but his seriousness and steadfast-
ness are always undoubted. From Italy the wan-
derlust took him to Japan, Cuba and Mexico. His
travels in various lands have resulted in groups or
series of plates which accentuate well-defined
stages of development. The Norlands sets, the
only ones of these series done in his native land
(though to them should be added some stray views
in New York City and Coney Island as home
products), may appear to some as perhaps the
least satisfactory; the latest ones (the Mexican)
again may seem probably the best. Yet one hesi-
tates to make this comparison, from fear that it
may be instigated by too strong a preference for
LII
From the Original Etching
SANTA MARIA, MEXICO BY CADWALLADER WASHBURN
The etched work of cadwal-
LADER WASHBURN
BY FRANK WEITENKAMPF
In the recent revival of painter-
etching among American artists the influence of
Whistler was to be expected, but that of Meryon
is equally strong or more so. Yet neither, nor any
other, is dominant. It is the spirit that has been
followed, rather’than the manner, and it has been
absorbed, not copied. The note of direct expres-
sion is strongly felt in this work of the younger
American etchers. In the best of it we feel that
intimate relation ’■between artist and subject in
which we may join and which forms one of the
chief charms of the print. This general charac-
terization applies with particular force in the case
of Cadwallader Washburn.
When Washburn, in the course of his wander-
ings, came to Venice in 1903, he entered into the
spirit of the group—Duveneck, Bacher, et al—who
had sat at the feet of Whistler in the city which he
had glorified with the etching needle. The result
appears in some very creditable views of Venetian
palaces and plazas and canals. But Washburn
very soon went his own way.
Lessons in etching he never had. After study-
ing under H. Siddons Mowbray at the Art Stu-
dents’ League, New York City (about 1883-85),
then for three years with W. M. Chase, in Spain
with Sorolla and in Paris under Albert Besnard, he
one day exchanged canvas and brush for plate and
needle. One may not always see just as he did;
one may even find his powers inadequate in cer-
tain instances; but his seriousness and steadfast-
ness are always undoubted. From Italy the wan-
derlust took him to Japan, Cuba and Mexico. His
travels in various lands have resulted in groups or
series of plates which accentuate well-defined
stages of development. The Norlands sets, the
only ones of these series done in his native land
(though to them should be added some stray views
in New York City and Coney Island as home
products), may appear to some as perhaps the
least satisfactory; the latest ones (the Mexican)
again may seem probably the best. Yet one hesi-
tates to make this comparison, from fear that it
may be instigated by too strong a preference for
LII